Veteran Pension Protection Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2988 To address the financial exploitation of veterans receiving pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. DAINES) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To address the financial exploitation of veterans receiving pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Pension Pro- 4 tection Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2988 IS SEC. 2. PLAN TO ADDRESS THE FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION 1 OF VETERANS RECEIVING PENSION FROM 2 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF METHOD FOR SOLICITATION 4 AND COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—Not later than one 5 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a method for sys- 7 tematically soliciting and collecting information on com- 8 plaints received, referrals made, and actions taken by the 9 pension management centers of the Department of Vet- 10 erans Affairs and any other relevant components of the 11 Department, in cases of potential financial exploitation of 12 individuals receiving pension under chapter 15 of title 38, 13 United States Code. 14 (b) PLAN TO ASSESS AND ADDRESS FINANCIAL EX- 15 PLOITATION OF VETERANS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 17 and periodically update a plan— 18 (A) to regularly assess the information so- 19 licited and collected under subsection (a) to 20 identify trends of potential financial exploitation 21 of the individuals described in subsection (a) 22 across the Department; and 23 (B) to outline actions that the Department 24 can take to improve education and training to 25 address those trends. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2988 IS (2) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than one 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 2 not less frequently than once every two years there- 3 after, the Secretary shall submit the plan most re- 4 cently developed or updated under paragraph (1) 5 to— 6 (A) the Comptroller General of the United 7 States; and 8 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 9 and the Special Committee on Aging of the 10 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 11 of the House of Representatives. 12 SEC. 3. OVERPAYMENTS OF PENSION TO VETERANS RE- 13 CEIVING PENSION FROM THE DEPARTMENT 14 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 15 (a) GUIDANCE AND TRAINING FOR CLAIMS PROC- 16 ESSORS.—As the Secretary considers necessary, but not 17 less frequently than once every three years, the Under Sec- 18 retary for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs 19 shall update guidance and training curriculum for the 20 processors of claims for pension under chapter 15 of title 21 38, United States Code, regarding the evaluation of ques- 22 tionable medical expenses on applications for pension, in- 23 cluding by updating such guidance with respect to what 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2988 IS constitutes a questionable medical expense and by includ- 1 ing examples of such expenses. 2 (b) IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING.—The Under 3 Secretary shall develop a method for identifying and track- 4 ing the number of individuals who have received overpay- 5 ments of pension under chapter 15 of title 38, United 6 States Code. 7 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than 9 October 31 of each fiscal year beginning thereafter, the 10 Under Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 11 includes, for the period covered by the report— 12 (1) the number of individuals who received 13 overpayments of pension under chapter 15 of title 14 38, United States Code; and 15 (2) the reason for each overpayment. 16 SEC. 4. EVALUATION OF ADDITIONAL ACTIONS FOR 17 VERIFYING DIRECT DEPOSIT INFORMATION 18 PROVIDED BY VETERANS ON APPLICATIONS 19 FOR VETERANS PENSION. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Benefits 21 of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall— 22 (1) conduct an evaluation of the feasibility and 23 advisability of requiring the processors of claims for 24 pension under chapter 15 of title 38, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2988 IS Code, to take additional actions to verify that the di- 1 rect deposit information provided by an individual on 2 an application for pension is for the appropriate re- 3 cipient; and 4 (2) identify such legislative or administrative 5 actions as the Under Secretary considers appropriate 6 to ensure that payments of pension are provided to 7 the correct recipients. 8 (b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 11 Under Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 12 on the evaluation and identification under subsection 13 (a). 14 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para- 15 graph (1) shall include the following: 16 (A) The findings of the Under Secretary 17 with respect to the evaluation conducted under 18 subsection (a)(1). 19 (B) The actions identified under subsection 20 (a)(2). 21 (C) A plan for implementing any adminis- 22 trative actions identified under subsection 23 (a)(2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2988 IS (D) A rationale for not implementing any 1 actions evaluated under paragraph (1) of sub- 2 section (a) but not identified under paragraph 3 (2) of such subsection. 4 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT ON EFFORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF 5 VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ADDRESS THE FINAN- 6 CIAL EXPLOITATION OF VETERANS RECEIV- 7 ING PENSION. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than once 9 each year, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 10 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 11 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives a report on efforts to address the financial 13 exploitation of individuals receiving pension under chapter 14 15 of title 38, United States Code. 15 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report required by subsection 16 (a) shall include, for the period covered by the report, the 17 following: 18 (1) The number of individuals who received 19 pension under chapter 15 of title 38, United States 20 Code, who have been referred by any component of 21 the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Office of 22 Inspector General of the Department as likely or 23 proven victims of financial exploitation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2988 IS (2) The number of referrals and reports relat- 1 ing to the financial exploitation of such individuals 2 made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to— 3 (A) the Consumer Sentinel Network of the 4 Federal Trade Commission; and 5 (B) the Department of Justice. 6 (3) A description of the actions taken as a re- 7 sult of such referrals and reports against— 8 (A) individuals recognized by the Secretary 9 as agents or attorneys under section 5904 of 10 title 38, United States Code; and 11 (B) individuals not so recognized. 12 SEC. 6. NOTICE REGARDING FEES CHARGED IN CONNEC- 13 TION WITH FILING AN APPLICATION FOR 14 VETERANS PENSION. 15 The Under Secretary for Benefits of the Department 16 of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that every paper or elec- 17 tronic document relating to the receipt of pension under 18 chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code, that is avail- 19 able to individuals who apply for such pension, including 20 educational forms about or applications for such pension, 21 includes a notice that the Department does not charge any 22 fee in connection with the filing of an application for such 23 pension. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2988 IS SEC. 7. OUTREACH PLAN FOR EDUCATING VULNERABLE 1 VETERANS ABOUT POTENTIAL FINANCIAL EX- 2 PLOITATION RELATING TO THE RECEIPT OF 3 PENSION. 4 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Under Secretary 5 for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall 6 develop, in collaboration with veterans service organiza- 7 tions, an outreach plan for educating vulnerable individ- 8 uals about potential financial exploitation relating to the 9 receipt of pension under chapter 15 of title 38, United 10 States Code. 11 (b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 12 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 13 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 14 fairs and the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate 15 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 16 Representatives the plan developed under subsection (a). 17 (c) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 18 In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 19 means an organization recognized by the Secretary of Vet- 20 erans Affairs for the representation of veterans under sec- 21 tion 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2988.IS S2988 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS